Silence sits in the corner

Silence sits in the corner

With fear hanging in the air

Nothing happens

Without warning

Smoke signals

Float from the chimney

But who reads them

When heads are bowed

Over bright screens

Digitalis on a keypad

Raising the heart rate

In the recently comatose.

Nobody knows

The drama

Like a kitchen sink.

The sound of breaking glass

Has a way of excising

Held breath.

There is no reprieve

From vigilance

A masterclass in

Everyday endurance.

Family time

Is embraced

As anxiously attached

To survival.

Total warfare

On a human scale

There is little humanity

In this condition

No relief.

Every day becomes

An exercise in reading

A room

With no rescue

Or release.

Just the slow drip

Of the cold tap

A toll on the children

Tuneless

Disharmony

Mindless

Destruction.

Tuesday, the 2nd of September.

Some women snore

Not that I’m complaining

Too many men drink

Far too much

Make promises they can’t keep

The worst of them

Have no intention of doing

The right thing

Unless they come out of it

On the right side

It seems to me

There is always a whole heap

Of crazy

Going on

None of it makes a lot of sense

Whether drunk or sober.

I almost want to say

“And here’s the thing”

But what does that even mean?

There is always another thing

Waiting to be aired.

“Just let me say this

I will say it only once

But if I’ve said it once

I’ve said it a million times.

What does it matter?”

Never a truer word

Was ever spoken

This side of crazy.